Some Democrats in Congress have been receiving threats in the days since this weekend’s vote on the long-debated health care bill, prompting precautions by congressional staffers in Washington and in local district offices.

At least 10 Democratic members of the House of Representatives have reported receiving death threats, Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said Thursday.

The offices of local Democratic members Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, and Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, said they had not received any threats, though they have received angry phone calls.

“They’re not necessarily threats, per se,” said Napolitano, who represents Pomona. “There are a lot of angry constituents making verbal statements that could be taken as threatening. But they’re not threatening personal damage or anything like that.”

She said her office gets the same kind of phone calls when Congress discusses immigration issues.

Baca aide Mike Trujillo, who works in Baca’s San Bernardino office, said the office has not received any threats of violence.

“Just the usual phone calls, but that’s it,” Trujillo said.

He said staff at the office have been instructed to report “anything out of the ordinary.” U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said the Capitol Police have asked all members’ offices to make both her agency and local law enforcement aware of any threats they receive.

Schneider said she could not disclose how many threats had been reported.

“When we have ongoing cases, we don’t want to discuss it and jeopardize any investigations,” she said.

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said her office has been in touch with all congressional offices in Southern California to make sure staffers know who to contact if they receive a threat.

John Lowrey, a Baca spokesman in Washington, said he wasn’t aware of any threats directed at Baca. In his four years in Washington, Lowrey said he has never heard of legislation leading to threats made to specific members of Congress.

Fred Beuttler, deputy historian of the House of Representatives, said his office doesn’t have any record of threats received in the past. But he said members have sometimes been threatened by constituents – or even other members – and that some threats have been carried out.

“One of the more serious ones was in the summer of 1956,” Beuttler said. “There was a cross burned on (House Speaker) Sam Rayburn’s lawn. Civil rights was one of the key issues in 1956.”

Other than that, though, he said he couldn’t think of many incidents or threats that were tied specifically to legislation.

He said people in Washington seem concerned about the threats and about the often angry tone of the health care debate.

“I’ve noticed that it’s quite a bit different lately,” he said. “You have very angry people outside. We’ve had members verbally assaulted and even spat on, which is not what typically happens around here.”

Local Republicans denounced the threats against members of Congress.

Jo Maney, a spokeswoman for Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, said Dreier “condemns in the strongest possible terms any threats or acts of violence against anyone over this or any other issue.”

Jim Specht, a spokesman for Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, said the same, though he also said threats have come from a tiny minority of Americans.

Specht said Lewis believes it is “unfortunate that a few law-breakers have caused damage or issued threats against some members of Congress, undermining the legitimacy of the millions of Americans who have exercised their First Amendment rights to voice their concerns.

“The congressman condemns all such vandalism and threats, and supports a full investigation by the FBI to prosecute those who have broken the law,” Specht said.